To think this is a ridiculous price?

[VibesCurator]

First time getting a housesitter for my 2 dogs as a family member who used to watch them moved away. I got quoted £40 total per day by a sitter, AIBU for thinking this is ridiculous?

I'm not boarding them, the sitter would be staying in my house using my gas and electric. I have replied to them as much, but now that I am looking around at more sitters, it seems like an average price. How much does everyone else pay?

I had to look around for a cat sitter last year and was quoted £15 PER visit and a minimum of 3 visits a day and only 1/2 an hour a visit. I had 2 cats and was told it was £15 per cat. So essentially £90 a day for potentially 1.5 hours. I was shocked!

I think she’s saying “good luck” to the idea of finding anyone cheaper. If you know the sitter is good, they are worth so much!

We had a terrible sitter who was paid >£20 per day to visit our pets twice a day. She didn’t do it. They survived but we’re not ok.

Seems fine to me
Our catsitter 1 easy maintained cat £30 a day

We pay £35 per day to home board our dog and we supply the food, treats and bed.

A friend of ours pays £65 per day for someone to dog sit at their house.

I think your price is very reasonable, and especially if the sitter is recommended to you.

This is the most batshit suggestion I have seen on MN for a while. You must be joking.

You’re a complete cheeky fucker and seem to deem your time as more valuable than anyone else’s.

I am in childcare and it boils my blood when people clutch their pearls at babysitting prices as it’s just “sitting on the sofa whilst the kids sleep.”

They seem to disregard the fact that I have years of experience, have trained in my profession, have insurance, excellent references, need to earn a living and would quite frankly rather be going home to the comfort of my own home in the evenings rather than sitting in a strangers house so yes I deserve to be paid decently for what I’m offering and all the same points go for this pet sitter.

I love the sound of your potential dog sitter! Knows her worth and obviously not prepared to work for cheapskates who want something for next to nothing and couldn't care less what standard of dog sitter they are prepared to employ. 😅

My DD does occasional pet sitting like this, but there’s only one dog. She gets £450 a week.

As the OP has had her arse handed to her on a plate many times over now I would guess she's not coming back to the thread. That's if this was ever a real situation and not just click bait. All the same, it's been interesting to get an idea of what people are paying for dog care in different areas.

We used to pay a family friend £50 a night to stay over with our elderly cat. We now pay a house/pet sitter £35 a night. She comes and goes during the day as she walks other client’s dogs and pops in to check on/feed other cats but she stays overnight when we’re away with our old boy.

Exactly - I doubt I'd be trusting anyone who wasn't enough in demand to charge a lot more than this.

I’m so sorry - that’s truly awful !

OMG, what happened? Did you pay her/book her, and she didn't turn up? Were your pets alone while you were away? If this is what happened then I am so sorry. Hope you and your pets are OK now.

Unable or unwilling to pay what is a very reasonable price, yes.

Which is true.

good on her.
I'm a pet sitter. Anyone rudely (for you were rude) questioning my prices/service before booking will be told politely to fuck off, as she did. I won't take any future booking requests, and report them to the booking platform.

If you want a well-reviewed pet sitter, you need to pay the advertised fee.

She's really cheap, I charge £60 for overnight, provided I can work at my day job.

@Agapornis how to you tell someone to fuck off 'politely?' 😆

She's calling you a tight wad.

DBS training
walking them
cleaning up any messes
their time
their experience
trust

i pay £30 in Devon for a tiny daxi and for piece of mind that’s incredibly good value. She isn’t going into a kennel where she would be really stressed and I know that she’ll have 1-2-1 love and attention the whole time. My sitter sends lots of pics and updates and I think my daxi probably looks forward to my sitter coming over
plus she’s watching the house
and if I ask her nicely she’ll put the washing in the dryer/Chuck a joint of meat in the oven before she leaves
I think £40 for 2 dogs for 24 hrs is amazing
she also sweeps and washes the floor before she leaves and leaves the bathroom clean (possibly cleaner than when I leave it) ps. I don’t ask her to clean up, she does that anyway - worth her weight in gold and if she wanted to charge more I would be happy To pay it

You are paying for their TIME. Whether they are walking your dog, cleaning your loo or playing fetch, it's their TIME. And minimum wage is about £13 an hour.

I am self employed and currently charge £15 an hour so that would get you about 2.5 hours of my time.

Tbh I'd probably be marginally more polite than this dog sitter, more along the MN classic of 'Unfortunately that won't work for me.' - then press the big 'Decline job' button immediately.

E.g. I get people who say they're Very Disappointed when I explain that while I have availability that day, I'm not able to give injections at 8am and 8pm (because I have hobbies/a life). Honestly, some prospective clients treat you like a child, I don't need the money that much!

And some dogs have very individual needs that require quite a lot of specific attention…

I was quoted £120 per day when I had a very naughty complex mastiff… no longer with us sadly.. but he was very reactive and difficult to manage so the price reflected the fact that he would need specific attention, walking in a secure paddock - so the sitter would have had to take him in her car

I think she's calling you a cheapskate and quite right too!!

Our pets have needs that mean they need to eat every 12 hours (roughly). They need to be fed twice a day. They have access to food all day, but if they take a turn they won’t eat anything and need medication. Obviously, the only way to know they haven’t eaten is by visiting and feeding!

We think she visited once per day but missed two days entirely. We could tell because she would send photos with the wrong daylight for the time of day and if we ever asked she would say that she had “just left” and forgot to take photos. In the past, all the sitters were have used have been so enthusiastic and excited to show us what the pets have been up to so the lack of photos was unusual. Any questions got vague answers. Overall her messages were just so suspicious. A friend went over on the last day of our holiday to check in and found she had already posted the keys back through the door. There should have been 3 more visits at that point! Luckily our friend was able to do the last day and morning of our return. She sent us photos of the state they were in as they had not been cleaned up after 😢 we used the photos to argue a refund from where we had booked.

The part that really angered me was that the girl was a vet student! She knew the condition our pets have and knew, while unlikely, it’s still serious!

No, just a delusional throw-back from yesteryear.

It is 2 dogs

dogs are expensive. They always have been.